you are telling a story based on what you imagine it would be like to stop telling the story of the self and concluding it is not enough .the little self and the story of the self are the same ... just thoughts .there really is no little self , only a story about it in the mind . when the mind is silent there is no story and no little self ."simply stop telling the story of the self and see who you are without it" ... is a pointing to the silence , the truth of who we really are

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simply stop telling the story of the self and see who you are without it

Quote:"you are telling a story based on what you imagine it would be like to stop telling the story of the self and concluding it is not enough .the little self and the story of the self are the same ... just thoughts .there really is no little self , only a story about it in the mind . when the mind is silent there is no story and no little self ."simply stop telling the story of the self and see who you are without it" ... is a pointing to the silence , the truth of who we really are"

Dear Sri Beloved Abstract,

Yes, my understanding is the same with this difference that I also understand that only a very advanced seeker can straightaway, upon being told, can plunge deep and reach the core of one's very existence, and see and be the Self that he really is. Yes, certainly, on the path of Vichara, some intellectual understanding is essential, if not imperative, for most of the seekers, while within the relativity, which is undoubtedly nothing more than sheer imagination and dream-like. I am also deeply aware that most of the devotees and seekers, before and after His Mahasamadhai, though had glimpse and foretaste of the Atma-swarupa, yet they pursued the sadhana unswervingly till the out-going tendencies of the mind was completely arrested and the mind was rendered irreversibly quiescent, which led to flowering and expansion of the Consciousness culminating in Realization. Therefore, it is common experience that remaining in the relativity and enjoying objects of the world, one cannot straightaway put aside the ego and see without it who really one is. This is attainable in a trice by somebody as great and advanced a Soul as Bhagwan Sri Ramana Himself who put this troublesome, unreal, non-existent and phantom-like ego away and saw, realized and remained as the Self thereafter forever. Though unreal and non-existent, if someone transcends the ego in a trice and is one with the Silence of the Self, such a one is certainly a great one, otherwise this is merely a wishful thinking. Yes, nothing whatever can be predicated to Self, for in the state of being, there is only and only the Silence, the Silence of the Self. No discussion is possible there, nor can one come with a one-liner unless one has attained Sahaja like Sri Bhagwan.

However, having said that, I wish to express my admiration that if you have been able to transcend the individuality and its story, and seen who really you are without them and without any sadhana whatever, you certainly are a great one!

When the battle was over the war was lostAnd in that defeat was my victoryI fought and fought only to perishOn the ashes of my dead selfWas the resurrection of the DivineThe fight was indeed a noble oneIn which the warrior was crucified to death.And that death was another Name of God, truth of love.

Source: On the Wings of Ecstasy

Dear devotees, it is true that the Enquiry is first undertaken by the ego, but the moment this little ego-self tries to know itself and as the Enquiry progresses, it begins to change its character and progressively partakes more and more of the consciousness and less and less of the jada (insentience) in which it is absorbed. The Enquiry, which in truth is a Battle Royale, in which not only all the wrong notions and imagined stories of the self are demolished one by one, but the warrior or the pseudo self itself offers shame-facedly for crucifixion at the Altar of the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Heart. This crucifixion is essential for the revelation of the truth of God and truth of love.

One day at Skandasramam a lady came and had darshan of Bhagwan, and when taking leave told Bhagwan, "My mind goes in many direction." Bhagwan said, "Turn it from many directions into one direction." After she left I remarked, "If one could do that, one is a jnani." Bhagwan replied, "What is one to do? People, as soon as they come, want to attain jnana. They imagine it is so easy to get it. There are any number of difficulties on the way. They don't realize it." Sri Vilacheri Ranga IyerSource: Mountain Path

Dear Devotees,

After I was initiated into Enquiry by His Grace, I also sensed and thought that Self-knowledge is very easy and just impending. However, when those euphoric days passed I encountered some difficulties, and I gradually realized that steady practice with love for the Divine and Existence Itself is essential. Dear devotees, If mind goes in many directions, turning it form them into one direction may initially be found to a little bit difficult. But if that one direction is the 'I', which is so evident, so immanent, and so undeniable, and once the attention is focused by His Teaching and His Grace to the truth of one's self, my and many other devotees' understanding and experience are that there is no escape from the question 'Who Am I?' thereafter. Sri Bhagwan Himself has uttered that once the matter is intellectually understood, and I shall add here: once an earnest seeker has the foretaste of the bliss of the Atma-swarupa, such a one would surely begin to apply it in real life situations, arguing at every moment 'for whom these thoughts?, for whom these actions?, who are the doers?, who am I?' until he is established in the conviction that the Inner Guru (The Self) Himself is guiding him. Sri Bhagwan has taught that the Faith is thus firmed up, all doubts are cleared and such a one needs no further instructions.

Dear devotees, difficulties on the path notwithstanding, His devotees and seekers of truth should never forget that He also exultingly sang:

Sri Bhagwan has taught that the Nature of Reality is Sat-Chit-Ananda or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Regarding the Nature of Reality I would like to post following excerpt from a book titled 'Ramana The Mystic', written by Sri Nathan, a Holy Cross Priest who has done his Doctoral Studies on 'Mysticism of Ramana Maharshi':

"Sri Ramana realized that what permanently exists is Reality. It is that which does not change, the foundation on which all other things emerge. So He aptly termed the experience of that Reality as Existence (Ulladu), the first word in the introductory verse of Ulladu Narpadu. He further went on to describe is as consciousness and bliss.""Though the different schools of Vedanta accepted the succinct definition of Reality, Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss), the Advaita system emphasized the dimension of consciousness to the disadvantage of the other aspects of Reality. Sri Ramana brought back by His mystic experience the neglected constituents of Reality, existence (sat) and bliss (ananda), to the centre-stage along with consciousness (chit), and re-established the dynamic wholeness of Reality. For Him Reality was one of the unbreakable unity of these three essentials." "The implication of this stance is that no one aspect can be dominant neglecting the other. Sri Ramana's mysticism pointed to the integral Reality as Sat-Chit-Ananda, retracing to the mystic experience of sages."

Dear devotees, though I do not wish to make any comment on the writer's view that the Advaita system emphasized the dimension of consciousness to the disadvantage of the other aspects of Reality, I am fully one with his doctoral finding that Bhagwan Sri Ramana brought existence and bliss aspects of Reality to the centre-stage. Yes, the first word in the Mangala Venba or the Introductory Verse of the Ulladu Narpadu is 'Ulladu' which means 'That which is'.

"Can there be an experience of existence as 'I Am' without the existence of 'That which is', the beingness?"

Dear devotees, there can be, in my view, no better pointer to the Reality or Presence than the Teaching contained in the first line of the Mangala Venba of the Ulladu Narpadu, for once we insightfully understand that WHAT WE EXPERIENCE AS OUR OWN EXISTENCE IS ONLY 'I AM', we understand also that indeed 'I Am' is the datum and centre of all our experiences whatsoever. Moreover, it is obvious that experience of 'I Am' is alone the true experience. As in true Love there is no lover and no beloved, so also the experience of 'I Am' is alone the true EXPERIENCE without the experiencer and the experienced.Dear devotees, from the above, it has followed for me that when I experience something, I essentially experience my own existence as 'I Am'. THEREFORE, IT FOLLOWS THAT 'I AM' OR THE SAT OR THE EXISTENCE ALONE IS THE TRUE EXPERIENCE, AND ALL OTHER WHAT WE CALL EXPERIENCES ARE IN FACT MERE PERCEPTIONS which become possible due to Sat or Existence. Unless Reality is Existence, can we have a thought of existence ANYWAY? No way!!

Dear Anil, Thank you for the welcome and the nice words about my posts. I am doing it slowly due to lack of sufficient time and it also allows me to meditate on the verses a little deeply.

I have been reading some your recent posts and I am really happy to see some nice ideas and conversations flowing in. I would like to add the following comments to this, just in case someone finds them useful.

Self Inquiry is a method to call the bluff off the little-I.This little-I is really an imposter acting like "me".bhagavan said, whence does the feeling of "I" arise, please observe and that is like a dog following a scent, or we following a sound to find the source. Lets take a simple example, suppose someone criticizes me and I feel bad. Whence is this feeling that "I am unhappy" arising ? Please observe carefully within. This feeling is not the body's feeling, obviously. deho na janati, the body does not know. This cannot be the Awareness, Self. Because Awareness is ever a mute witness, unconcerned ! and then what else is there here ?

Please see ... There is Awareness, there "is" body [conditionally for now], nothing else is there here other than a few stray thoughts that are discontinuous. But the feeling of unhappiness is not of a discontinuous kind ... its some kind of continuous entity , not stray thoughts ?? when we observe carefully , we see that there is no person out here ... and so what else is there but to just be ? infact there is no other option. The body just is in the lap of the universe ... and the Awareness ever simply IS. so even to say "just be" is redundant. there is no one else here.

This body is like an empty boat!

This is liberated living !

Its beautifully compared to a flute ... the flute is empty within, the holes are the holes inour body [eyes, ears etc] and the wind that blows through it , is blown by the Lord!

Sri Ramakrishna says:

Quote

"If one analyses oneself, one doesn't find any such thing as 'I'. Take an onion, for instance. First of all you peel off the red outer skin; then you find thick white skins. Peel these off one after the other, and you won't find anything inside."

This is liberated living here and now, one may wait for ages and own it up or live it here and now ! The choice is ours! The property is already given, we may take ownership after a few years or now! its our choice!

A certain lady was singing a devotional song. It said among other things:"Thou art my father,Thou art my mother,Thou art my relations,My possessions and all", and so on. Sri Bhagwan remarked with a smile, "Yes, yes, Thou art this, that and everything except 'I'. Why not say 'I am Thou' and finish it?"Talk--604

Dear devotees, Guru, God and Self are one and the same. Therefore, realizing the Self is realizing the non-difference with the Guru. Till that happens, devotees should regard the Guru as the Self and the false ego-self as the self to be offered as food unto Him.

'Let me, Thy prey, surrender unto Thee and be consumed'. After the prey (self) is consumed, what remains is the Guru-Self, then only one finds one is ever 'Thou', and never separate and different from 'Thou'.

Pranam,Anil

Dear Sri Udai, I have just gone through your post, and I wish to respond to some of the points you have raised in it sometime in the evening. Anil

Quote:"and so what else is there but to just be""and the Awareness ever simply IS"

Dear Sri Udai,

Yes, to just be is the Way to shed off the self-imposed and self-perpetuated limitations by oneself upon oneself. Yes, to just be, therefore, is the Way to be aware of that Awareness which alone ever is, as you said. Yes, it is a great game of mere pretension. Yes, He has taught that we are the Self, nothing but the Self, and everything else is just imagination, and the Self is ever realized, never non-realized. So the distilled Teaching: Be the Self Here and Now.

Then what obstructs us from being the Self that we always are?Why don't we straight away, after being intellectually convinced, be the Self Here and Now, and be peaceful and silent? Dear Sri Udai, Sri Bhagwan has revealed that the ego comes holding only 'Us'. So, when we hold ourselves, it takes to flight. Why does it come? Because we have falsely associated ourselves with ignorance of limitation, forgetting the Seer or the Witness, and identifying with the seen. Sri Bhagwan has Himself enjoined that this is because of long-standing habits fabricated by the mind birth after birth, that is, from time immemorial. It has thus absorbed itself more and more in ignorance, such that it now finds difficult, and even if willing, almost unable to disengage extricate itself from the thralls of the play-world it itself has fabricated.

Sri Bhagwan: Jnana can remain unshaken only after all the vasanas are rooted out. (Talk--172)

If one straightaway starts practicing to just be, he is assailed by myriads thoughts, and is not able to continue practicing further. And thoughts arise due to vasanas or predispositions. The more we are able to root out the vasanas progressively by Enquiry, the more we are able to practice to just be, and vice versa.

Our effort is only meant not to allow ourselves to be distracted by other thoughts, and thus deprive the ego. Sri Bhagwan has unequivocally taught that this false 'I' must perish for the Real 'I', or the Self, to shine forth.

Quote:"Self Inquiry is a method to call the bluff off the little-I.This little-I is really an imposter acting like "me".bhagavan said, whence does the feeling of "I" arise, please observe and that is like a dog following a scent, or we following a sound to find the source. Lets take a simple example, suppose someone criticizes me and I feel bad. Whence is this feeling that "I am unhappy" arising ? Please observe carefully within. This feeling is not the body's feeling, obviously. deho na janati, the body does not know. This cannot be the Awareness, Self. Because Awareness is ever a mute witness, unconcerned ! and then what else is there here ?"

Dear Sri Udai,

Yes, beautiful, this block of a body cannot know and does not know (deho na janati).

Quote:"But the feeling of unhappiness is not of a discontinuous kind ..."

Dear friend, "I am unhappy" is a thought. Isn't it? A thought appears and disappears. At least in the state of deep sleep, one is asleep happily and blissfully. Is he not? Then how can you say that unhappiness is not of a discontinuous kind? I feel that you are referring to the 'feeling of restlessness' or you may term it as 'feeling of unhappiness', which is always there so long as one feels alienated or separated from one's Source, i.e., the Self, or from that Which Is. As I have understood, it is this restlessness which keeps one ever nudging to seek happiness outside, remaining quite oblivious of the fact that happiness cannot be found in the sensory, unreal, imagined, mental world. And that Happiness is our fundamental nature. It is this restlessness which at long last leads one to seek happiness within, and this is how one turns diametrically by 180 degrees, that is, from seeking happiness in external, relative world to oneself within, and thus becomes an earnest sadhaka or a seeker of truth.

The finer the question,The sharper the search.The simpler the question,The humbler the response.

Of all the questions,the Kohinoor of Questions is,'Who am I?'

The Guru plants this jewel in your crown,Then He cultivates its growth,Till you rip your freedom.

Sri Rahul Lama, Mountain Path

Dear devotees, being seized with the divine fervour to seek the truth of oneself within is the manifestation of Guru's Grace. Anyway, once the question is planted in a seeker's heart and mind by Him, there is no escape thereafter from the Jaw of His Grace, for then He is not only always there to pilot one through the vicissitude of life, but guides at every step in sadhana till one attains freedom. This has been the common experience of almost one and all who came to Him for Grace and Guidance. And I have no doubt that this is, in my view, as true now as it was then.Pranam, Anil

"Yes, wounds have been cured except for the left arm which still pains acutely particularly in the night despite much exercise and medication.

A Homeopathic doctor friend of mine (he is no more ) would suggest taking Arnica Montana 30 c Pills...4 pills thrice a day .....You may like to consult a homeopath regarding the pain...Wishing you complete recovery.

Quote:"A Homeopathic doctor friend of mine (he is no more ) would suggest taking Arnica Montana 30 c Pills...4 pills thrice a day .....You may like to consult a homeopath regarding the pain...Wishing you complete recovery."

Dear Sri Ravi,

A few years back, when I had similar pain in the back, an office colleague who had some knowledge of Homeopathy, and who always exhorted us to use first Homeopathic medicines for all sorts of ailments rather than allopathy ones, administered 'Arnica' (I do not exactly remember the number) to me, and I was gradually relieved and cured of the pain in the back using the same for some time. Seeing your post, first I wondered why it did not occur to me to try the same treatment for the troublesome left arm this time also. So, accepting your timely advice, I wish to consult a Homeopathic doctor today. Thanks so much, dear bhai saheb, for your kind solicitude for everyone of us here in this forum.

We slowly come to understand that Bhagwan is not bound by time or space nor our concepts as to who 'He' is. Once that indelible revelation is given to us through an unmistakable encounter at the Samadhi, or a dream, or an instant of recognition when we see His photograph or a sentence in His Teachings, we are joined to His Name. We begin to realize that Bhagwan is everywhere and wherever any of us gather in His Name He is there; wherever any of us prays to Him, He is there, wherever any one contemplates Him, He is there. For each one of us, we only need to remember Him any time and in any place, He is always there. Editorial, Mountain Path

Dear devotees, How true! Where will His devotees gather except at His Feet! He Himself is said to have once enjoined this. A devotee named Sri James Charlton, commenting on the above quote, has written thus:

"The immensity of this statement is hard to miss. It is reminiscent of words attributed to Jesus: 'For where two or three are gathered in my Name, I am there among them.'(Matthew 18:20 NRSV)."

The one Infinite Unbroken Whole becomes aware of Itself as 'I' or 'I Am'. Sri Bhagwan Ramana says that this is the original Name, and all other Names, such as, OM, etc., are later growths. Though the 'I Am' is always experienced, yet one's attention has to be drawn to It. Only then does Knowledge dawn. Hence, the effort is sine-qua-non.

This 'I Am' is therefore window to Eternity. As has been hammered day in and day out, this is the datum or the Centre of all our experiences whatsoever. Thus, the 'I Am' is the bridge between transcendence and immanence, connecting at once the manifested world with the Unmanifest.

But here I am neither concerned with the manifested world nor with the Unmanifest. Here I wish to dwell on the Divine Presence. Everyone here may be aware of the Teaching that holding the Pure Awareness 'I Am' with effort is sadhana, and when this holding is effortless, it is Realization. So also, at the stage of sadhana, the 'I Am' is the Pointer to Divine Presence, and when Realization happens 'I Am' Itself is realized to be the POINTED.

Therefore, there can be no better or greater Pointer to the Divine Presence than the 'I Am', for, even in a dark room, without the aid of the senses, we are aware that I Am, that is, we are assured of our being, our existence, without the mind and aid of the senses. So, we are, that is, we exist, even without the senses and the mind. Do we not?

Dear devotees, can there ever be anything whatever more intimate or more immediate than the experience of 'I Am', which is so self-evident to anyone even in a dark room?

THEREFORE, IN MY VIEW, THE INTIMACY, IMMEDIACY AND ITS SELF-EVIDENCE MAKE 'I AM' THE GREATEST POINTER TO THE DIVINE PRESENCE, WHICH, IN FACT, IS THE POINTED.

I posted a few posts on the Pointer to the Presence under this topic. Well, concluding, I wish to say that I concluded long ago to myself that practicing Atma-vichara or Self-enquiry, as taught by Bhagwan Sri Ramana, is indeed truly 'Practicing the Presence of God'. With love for the Divine in the heart, diving within, attaining the one-pointedness of mind, and reaching the Core of one's being or existence, is practicing the Presence. And remaining as the One-Self, without the presence of even the trace of the 'I'-thought, is Jnana.